READING – A young boy runs as fast as his feet will carry him and leaps into the air as far as gravity will allow.

That same boy continues to grow. His feet move faster. His leap becomes longer.

When Justin Dreyling was in the seventh grade, someone noticed his knack for thwarting gravity in a single leap.

“It was kind of just a freak thing,” said the Reading High School senior who won the Division II state championship in long jump last season. “I knew I was fast … but then in the seventh grade I went out for track and it was pretty much like, ‘This is long jump; let’s see how everybody can do,’ and I ran and jumped the farthest out of everybody.

“It was my first time ever doing it. They started putting me in events.”

Dreyling didn’t win much that first season, but thanks to a work ethic that rivals his natural ability, he’s found his form and improved year after year.

“It’s like he has springs in his legs,” said Reading head coach Rob Page, who also coached Dreyling in football. “We joke, for how far he jumps you would think he would be so much faster. He’s kind of anomaly in terms of his ability to do this but when you see him move around and do plyometrics when he comes off the ground it’s really, really explosive.

“He’s got great technique and he’s super coachable and he works really hard, so he’s been able to improve every year and he’s kind of improved a foot every year and we feel like he’s got a 24-foot jump in him and I think we’ll see it before the end of the year.”

As a freshman, Dreyling broke 20-feet for the first time at the Cincinnati Hills League meet. After making it to the regional finals as a freshman, Dreyling took another big step as a sophomore and placed fourth at state.

“That little postseason stretch really surprised me as well because going from districts I was jumping low (21 feet) and then the next meet at regionals, I broke my (personal record) by about a foot and a half and jumped 22’7” to win the region and go on to state,” said Dreyling, who remains uncommitted but plans to continue his career in college.

And then last year’s leap that landed him a state championship ring.

“It was pretty incredible,” said Dreyling, hoping to repeat that feat this spring. “It was special because I knew I had a lot of pressure on me after finishing fourth as a sophomore. Knowing that a lot of people wanted me to win state and I wanted to win state for myself, just the fact that I accomplished it is pretty sweet.”

His coached added, “But here’s the thing, he’s not a one-trick pony. He has the fastest 100-meter time and the fastest 300-hurdle time on the team. If we put him in the open 200 he would probably have the fastest 200-meter time. If we put him in high jump he would top-four in the league.”

“In the past two years, we’ve broken five school records,” said Dreyling.

Page said: “This is by far the fastest team Reading’s ever had. We have a chance to send five events to the state and compete at the state level.”

That’s pretty remarkable for a team with just 18 boys on it. Guys like Keonte Sanders, Gabe Van Skaik, Don’nek Patterson, Bryce Hunt, Mancini Jackson and Issia Johnson-Sienou have all become prime performers.

“We take a blue-collar approach,” said Page. “We’re still doing the prison yard workouts and we’re still on a beat up track but we embrace it.”

It’s an approach Page credits the senior class with.

“Having senior leadership like we have is unbelievable,” said Page. “They put their head down and work. That’s what leads to success.”